Apartment Therapy Los Angeles - Archive for the week of 2008-06-21

LA House Tour: Elise & Darren Modernist Sensibility

Name: Elise & Darren Location: San Diego, CA Size: 1550 sq. ft. Years lived in: 4 years (3, really, since we moved out during construction) >> Enter Slideshow >> View All Thumbnails For this we...

AT Los Angeles (Asia & Australia) Bloggers Search!

Call it a case of urban sprawl, but Apartment Therapy Los Angeles is growing and we're looking to fill in some vacancies with a couple new bloggers who can help expand our coverage into Asia, Australi...

Living Room House

Want a house with lots of windows and a good view? So did Seifert Stoeckmann, whose Living Room House in the historic district of Gelnhausen, Germany sports 52 windows in a checkerboard pattern and al...

Dissolving Paper Shampoo

Here's an ingenious way to get your shampoo on in a very convenient, compact packaged form while traveling/camping this summer. These Dissolving Paper Shampoo sheets transform into a minty fragrant la...

San Diego Store: Boomerang For Modern

We've noticed San Diego store Boomerang For Modern mentioned a few times by our readers as a favourite shopping destination, so we thought we'd get in touch with owner, David Skelley, for a store tour...

Paw Plunger for Muddy Paws

Oh man. I so could have used one of these Paw Plungers this morning when I took both dogs to the park. They have a bad habit of running to the communal water bowl, "digging" the water out, then jumpin...

Knit Rug by Flocks

Although we tend to be big champions of colour here on AT, we can also find the beauty in a neutral room. If that's your bent, the key to making sure this kind of space doesn't look beige and boring ...

10 Best Inspiring TV Show Decor

Like our friend Jonathan, we've recently become obsessed with the AMC series Mad Men, both for the excellent writing and admittedly because everything in the show looks so darn amazing. There's not ma...

To Do Tattoo

What's on your to do list? Do you do all the household errands or, if you live with roommates or a significant other, do you split them up between you? Do you ever go out for the day and realize you...

Look! More Mustard and Dark Brown Plus White

Last weekend a bunch of us LA Bloggers met up to tour the Neutra VDL house (which is in serious disrepair and in need of funds, ahem) in Silverlake. Abby talked about the great use of mirrors and we ...

Our Town: What Do You Love and Hate About It?

Last night, we attended a neighborhood / town hall meeting that invited residents to share their thoughts on what they loved and hated about the neighborhood--and what could be done to improve on the ...

Mini Garden Tour: Gramma's House

My Grandparents built their house in Glendale in 1947 and spent the next 60 years cultivating the garden. A mix of drought tolerant plants and tropical greens, my grandmother was a smart gardener wit...

Growing a Garden in a Jar

If your small space has no green space, you might want to consider going very small and grow a garden in a bottle. Instructions after the jump......

Win a HGTV and Cookie Magazine Family-room Makeover

Want a chance to win a family room makeover and possibly a $1,500 Visa Gift card? HGTV's Color Correction and Cookie magazine are sponsoring a contest where all you have to do is submit a photo of you...

7 Ways to Enjoy Summer This Weekend

We read recently that a giant percentage of people feel that they don't have the time to enjoy summer while it's here. We really wish sometimes that we were still in school where we would have months...

LA Event: Book Signing with Julius Shulman 6.28.08

If you're going to be in Palm Springs this weekend, there's a great opportunity to meet celebrated photographer Julius Shulman. Shulman, along with co-authors Alan Hess and Michael Stern will be havin...

LA Store: Green Arrow Nursery

Oh how we wrestled with whether or not to share our favorite nursery! We've taken the high road and decided that it's too good not to share. Green Arrow, nestled (buried?) in the heart of the valley...

Mini Garden Tour: Debra's French Feast Garden

The other day, in preparation for green month here at AT coming up in July (next week!), we stopped at Debra's to pick up our new Bokashi Composter. She invited us into her garden to demonstrate how ...

Hot or Not? Burst Chair

Oliver Tilbury's "Burst Chair" ...

Look! Storage Ideas for a Small Kitchen

There's a lot of storage ideas packed into this tiny kitchen: open wall shelving, under-the-counter shelving (behind the sweet blue fabric), pretty cannisters, and a casual group of baskets. While it...

LA Scavenger: Vintage Fainting Couch for $425

This vintage fainting couch has us feeling a bit weak in the knees. Despite its age, this piece is in great condition--and not a bad deal compared to similar couches at Anthropologie. Priced at $425...

The Mouthwash+Toilet Habit: Rinse, Spit, Wash

An extremely simple habit we've adopted each morning has resulted in both a cleaner mouth and a cleaner toilet (both can get dirty if left unattended too long). It's ridiculously simple: use the loo w...

Catawampus at the LA Arboretum

We've got an unusual architectural-art destination on our list of local places to visit/things to do. This one is down over at the Los Angeles Arboretum, where environmental artist Patrick Dougherty h...

Look! Chocolate Brown and Mustard Yellow

The walls in this photo look like it could be eggplant; but when we looked up the paint color, it looked more like a dark chocolate brown. Either way, it manages to do a near-impossible feat: update ...

Psyching Yourself Up for a Big Project

One of the projects we're considering for the long weekend next weekend is re-grouting our kitchen tile, a project we've been meaning to get around to for a long time. It's not that we haven't read u...

“Shark” Protects Your Fingers While Hammering

Use a hammer long enough and you're bound to one day miss the mark and "nail" one of your fingers or thumb instead. Designer Matthias Pinkert designed the ingenious "Shark", which looks strikingly lik...

Coming in July: Green @ Home Sharing & Giveaway!

We're devoted to the home, and next month we plan to address the recent frustration over going green at home. We're calling it Green @ Home, and it's designed to be a month long sharing across most o...

Do You Leave Your Porch Light On?

During an evening walk around the neighborhood, we could hear some kids a few steps ahead of us counting the houses that had their porch light on. "How come some houses do and some don't?" one kid as...

LA Thursday Giveaway: VTech LS6117 DECT Cordless Phone

Product: VTech LS6117 DECT Cordless Phone Value: $44.95 Description: Normally this would be an Unplggd giveaway, but VTech was nice enough to give us a couple of phones, with this particular model ...

LA Event: Venice Eco-Fest

Looking for a sustainable event to attend where you can learn more about being being green? Want to drop off a computer, monitor, laptop, TV, stereo, scanner, fax machine or cell phone to be recycled...

Rooftop Balcony Pet House

Although we don't have AT Pet (yet...), we're sure that if we did this would be one of the first places we'd check out for a house tour. Or, we might see it in the Smallest, Coolest......

West Elm Square Metal Armchair On Sale!

Last year West Elm's Mid Century outdoor furniture was a big hit for its simple shapes and good prices. This summer they unveiled more comfy loungy furniture. But don't forget about this classic tha...

Fixing a Sagging Mattress With Memory Foam

When we first got our W Hotel mattress it was like an epiphany...a glorious awakening...no...slumber! Unfortunately after just less than a couple years, whether due to manufacturing issues or our comb...

LA Sales Calendar: 06.26.08

Huntington Desert GardenJune Sales... Huntington Garden Cactus & Succulent Show and Sale Preview plant sale Friday, June 27, noon–4:30. Saturday and Sunday June 28-29, 10:30...

Prettiest Vine Ever? Passion Fruit

Please challenge us on this if you know of a prettier or more eye catching flowering vine. We can't think of one, though wisteria with its heavenly scent might be a close second. ...

Look! DIY Outdoor Dining

Eating, having a drink, hanging out with friends, it's all made even better when you can do it outdoors. It doesn't take a sprawling deck and fancy lighting to make it happen. Check out this awesome...

Garden Markers: Yucca DooHickeys

We've been busy toiling away in our apartment's front yard, pulling out dead plants, moving heavy rocks, shoveling soil to prepare for planting in the coming weeks. One thing we noticed in the pas whe...

Bloom My Buddy Vase

We've blogged William Morris's credo before about having nothing in your home that you do know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. We'd like to add a codicil: "or that makes you smile or even, l...

The Timeless Ceramics of Otto Heino
LA Times Home & Garden 06.26.08

This week's LA Times Home & Garden feature story is a great profile by David Keeps on ceramist Otto Heino. Heino was a key figure in the California crafts movement during the 1950s through the 1970s. ...

Blogging...A Way To Garden

If you've just started to get into gardening and are eager to learn, hop over to Margaret Roach's blog, A Way to Garden. Not only is it full of great tips and advice on when to plant what and how to c...

LA Scavenger: modern couch sofa for $400

When we first spotted this couch, our initial thought was, "Damn, those are come FLAT cushions!" Upon further inspection, we realized they're kind of like...individual slip covers? Anyway, this 60's ...

Eric Garcetti's Green Echo Park Home

When people say all politicians are the same, we know they must not know Eric Garcetti. He's not only our City Council President, but also an extremely active participant online (you'll occasionally s...

Conran Shop Cloth Table

Nothing like a table cloth to snazz up a plain old table. But sometimes we don't care for the clean up duty when entertaining outside, as what starts off as a pristine white table cloth can sometimes ...

Coolaroo Window Shades

We learned from Debbie (of Debbie and Olivier's One Window House) that to really cut down on heat indoors, you have to block the sun before it gets through the windows and into the house. Even if you ...

LA Good Quotes: On Exchanging Spare Apartment Keys...

"Don't you see? You're just avoiding the middleman. You were gonna give her her spare keys and she was gonna give 'em to me. So all that's happening is that instead of giving them to her you're giving...

Look! Janet Morton's Lace Covered Tree

Linden in Lace by Janet Morton, 2003It's easy to see the humour in Janet Morton's artwork. One look at the Canadian artist's sweater for a house or television or this beautiful lace covering for a tr...

Book We're Excited About: Avant Gardeners

Former Wallpaper magazine landscape editor Tim Richardson has put together a book that showcases the last ten years in avant garden landscape and garden design. We can't wait to flip through it and g...

Inspiration: AlFresco Triple Tray Pedestal

In the garden or on the deck, dining is an informal affair and an extra guest or two is not unusual. Finding room for everyone along with large platters of food, drinks, plates and cutlery can be cha...

Philippe Starck’s “School of Design”

Love him or hate him, you have to give Philippe Starck credit for staying in the limelight for years now with an agile sense of self-promotion. The walking ego of design (we personally love him, fault...

One More Bare Lightbulb Solution: Bulbcap

Looks like Laure found a happy ending for her bare light bulb challenge, updating and upscaling her ceiling with a Lunette Clip-On Shade from Relish. If you're looking for something less substantial, ...

Off-Duty Dining Room?

What does your dining area look like when it's not in use? We usually keep a few stacks of books and a vase of fresh flowers on our table to keep the space inviting. Sure, we make good use of the dini...

Great Indoor Plant: Begonias

Coming from a gardening family most of my plants originated with another family member. This begonia was my grandmother's and among the things that I inherited from her. Luckily this kind of Begonia...

Inspiration: Kate Hoffman, Faux Finish Painter

We've blogged numerous techniques for transforming furniture, including decoupage, liming and staining. These techniques are not limited to furniture. They can also be used to transform walls, floor...

Do you Know Someone Who Has Gone Too Far?

TLC is casting for a new show called Over Designed and it's the kind where you have to secretly nominate someone. So do you know someone who has a unique interior design style that has taken it too f...

LA Events Calendar: 6.25.08

Art & Design Events...June is Outdoor and Gardening Month at Apartment Therapy! Blum and Poe Opening Reception: Redwind Group Show Saturday, June 28th Culver City...

Look: Decorating the Edge of a Table

We were admiring Peter's recent multimedia table how-to on Unplggd when we noticed a small detail on the side edge of a table included in his instructions. The table was adorned with a cool cityscape ...

Where to Buy Living Wall Planters

Yesterday we blogged a gorgeous succulent wall planter and couldn't remember where we'd seen a more real world option. Thanks to reader DanielleM who reminded us that it was in the Gardener's Supply ...

Look! Bright Colored Adirondack Chairs

The outdoors is a great place to play around with bold colors. We spotted these brightly painted red, orange, and yellow Adirondack chairs over at The Camp retail center in Costa Mesa. We loved the co...

Update on the Bare Lightbulb

Thanks to everyone's suggestions for the bare lightbulb in my kitchen. I checked out all of the ideas you guys had and finally settled on one. It came in the mail yesterday, I put it up and I love ...

Patio Umbrellas by WW & Co.

In designing an outdoor space, shade is as important as light: to provide a respite from the midday sun, a cool spot for an alfresco lunch, a spot for reading the paper or shelter from a sun shower. ...

The Floating Bed

The lovechild of a hammock and a circular bed, the Floating Bed looks like an interesting outdoor furniture option; it rocks/moves like a hammock but also provides a more stable resting space thanks t...

5 Secret Things Your Cell Phone Can Do?

We'd been contemplating getting rid of our land line permanently after reading Abby's post awhile back, but we just haven't made the leap...yet. However, this morning we got an interesting email entit...

LA Scavenger: Vintage antique 1930's art deco black desk or vanity for $500

Usually we see these vanities made over in feminine whites, not in a deco-inspired black and robin's egg blue motif. This 1930s waterfall style vanity has been refinished in a glossy black and retain...

Inspiration Next Door: Neighbor's Cacti Garden

Inspiration can come from anywhere...sometimes literally next door. Our neighbor Bill has spent years tending to a marvelous cactus garden on a south facing irregularly shaped plot of land which he's ...

Look! Trompe-l'œil Wall Mural

A few months back, we got email forwards of Julian Beever's crazy chalk paintings that put Dick Van Dyke to shame. Now here's a mystery artist who is doing something similar, except in homes. Even i...

Klean Kanteens

Just like Maxwell decided to forever forgo bottled mineral water just over a year ago, we've stopped purchasing bottled water altogether for some time now. We currently rely on a simple PUR pitcher fi...

Don't Forget to Enjoy the Garden!

As with everything these days we can be so focused on the outcome of our hard work that we forget to enjoy the process. As we're working to improve our outdoor spaces, container gardens, backyards or...

Inspiration: Decorating with Produce

We're all familiar with using a big bowl of citrus fruit in our living rooms. A big bowl of oranges, lemons or limes is a familiar sight in decorating magazines. And green apples have become de rige...

Look! DIY Pergola in Echo Park

ATLA reader David wanted to share his DIY outdoor summertime solution inspired by one of our past posts: "I was inspired from a pic you guys had posted of a 4 poled pergola with a nice fabric. Well m...

Alternative to Ivy: Creeping Fig Vine

People often plant ivy out of desperation realizing they need to cover up a concrete block wall in the yard or quickly fill in an eyesore. We can't urge you enough not to do this. Once you plant Ivy...

A Bathtub in the Bedroom?

We've begun noticing a recent trend in having a bathtub in the bedroom. We're guessing the toilet is tucked away discreetly next to a closet or something, but we're a bit curious about whether or not...

Use Your Old Corks in Your Planter

We hate to toss the corks from the wine we drink. We like to keep them as an informal record of what we've drunk. But where to keep them? Here's one idea we saw the other night while dining at The ...

Growing Garden Wall in Metropolitan Home

Browsing through Metropolitan Home we snapped this picture of one of the most beautifully planted living walls we've seen so far. Well, let us rephrase. It was the most beautiful living wall we've s...

Look! Wooden Mobiles at Tortoise

We normally associate mobiles with babies and kids, but the fantastic mobiles made by Japanese Artist Shigeki Fujishiro on display at Tortoise are anything but:...

A Lush Los Angeles Bungalow
House Beautiful July 2008

The July 2008 Issue of House Beautiful is their "Small Space" Issue, a topic obviously dear to us at AT. Under the category of "Small and Natural" they featured the Los Angeles bungalow of designer Mo...

Casual Summer Cure

If you're looking to conquer some paperwork, work on the garden, finally clean out the kitchen, or just figure out a way to make your space feel better without spending any money, check out the LA Cur...

Look! Bread boxes

The other night we had dinner at The Little Next Door. The bread was served in delicate boxes made of poplar wood... ...

LA Good Question: Where Can I Find Retro-modern Cabin Furnishings for a Rustic Studio?

"I'm about to move into a really special, historic cabin-like oasis in Eagle Rock and am desperate to find stores/websites that carry retro or modern camp-like decor. I just bought some great metal di...

Look! Courtyard in Greece

Seems like everyone is going on vacation (except for us)! A friend of ours just got back from Greece, and posted some awesome photos of the scenery from her trip. We're absolutely in awe of how beaut...

LA Scavenger: KNOLL - 2 DIAMOND CHAIRS - BERTOIA - 1960 ORIGINALS for $550

Considering how much a vintage Bertoia diamond chair goes for on eBay, this isn't a bad deal at all! (Especially if you don't have to pay for shipping.) These vintage Bertoia diamond chairs were made...

Look: Dramatic Lighting

We're not normally all too fond of the revival of reproductions of dead animals in home decor. But we noticed this particular instance where the effect was pulled off to some success thanks to a thoug...

LA Good Question: Dealing With Nosy Neighbors?

We've all likely dealt with an overly curious, if not nosy, neighbor sometime in our lives. How to deal with them? "Dear ATLA, My neighbor seems to have made my life their uninvited concern. I often ...

Outdoor Tension Rods and Drapery

We've been trying to figure out what to do with a commons area between our apartment buildings that we think has a lot of potential for al fresco entertaining. An interesting idea is to treat the outd...

DIY Project: Double Desk Bookcase

We posted this idea awhile back, and we just found it again and the instructions on how to build it. Using a desk and a bookcase, this set up allows for two people to work closely but with some degre...

How To: Make a Ribbon Covered Lampshade

How hot was it this weekend? With no air conditioner of our own, we had to find old-fashioned ways to cool off, including a refreshing summer drink. We popped into Malo in Silverlake for a mojito an...

Marian Bantjes' DIY Doily Clock

We don't know how we initially missed this beauty of a clock, but we're glad we ran into Marian Bantjes' website where she posted her aiga/dc clock from over a year ago (with video of it in action), w...

Best Self Watering Solutions for Container Gardens

This morning we talked about expanding crystals to help save water while keeping plants alive in the heat. We thought we'd delve into the archives and round up our favorite self watering products so ...

Inspiration: Using Mirrors to Expand Your Space

This weekend, we toured the Richard Neutra House in Silverlake and realized how many "modern" solutions originated with Neutra that are still viable today. The house, with its small footprint needed ...

House Tour Update: Gidget Gets a Sex Change

Derek's Gidget Gets a Sex Change remains as one of our reader favourite house tours, thanks to the colourful pastiche of vintage era furnishings and decorations. Derek has been busy updating/streamlin...

Better Homes and Garden's Parkway Plan

There were mixed reactions to the idea of planting the parkway, but you can apply the same ideas (and plants) to any part of a garden. We even found a plan that walks you through how and what to plan...

Are You More Likely To DIY or Hire?

We just got back from visiting our friends' loft in Oakland where they built a huuuuuge bookcase in the entryway (library ladder and all!). Without even thinking about looking for a ready-made soluti...

Pappelina and Dalarna Indoor Outdoor Rugs by Magdalena York Collection

A few weeks ago, when we were at the Dwell on Design home tours, we spotted a great flat weave runner in the kitchen of one of our favorite houses. It was also used in the hallway. Then, this weeken...

What To Do With a Broken Pot

Pots for the garden can be expensive, so when one cracks, you can turn it around and pretend like it's not there. But once a whole chunk of the pot is gone, you can no longer stay in denial. That's ...

LA Thursday Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to AT reader "suziegoombs" as our Thursday Giveaway winner! She was randomly chosen from over 700 entries and will be receiving a Havana Brown Electrolux Ergorapido 2-in-1 Sweeper, cou...

Revamped Patio Furniture

Earlier this year we talked about how to clean up patio furniture. Well, if your furniture needs more than a thorough scrub down, have no fear, check out what AimeeRoo was able to do to this bistro s...

Inspiration: Birdcages and Battery Powered Candles
O at Home Summer 2008

With the warm weather upon us, it's prime time to get our patio in shape for entertaining. We've recently been looking into ways to add light underneath our patio umbrella. We love the look of fairy l...

Expanding Water Crystals for the Garden, Seriously

Expanding Crystals? Sounds like some kind of voodoo, right? Well, If this weekend was any indication of how hot it's going to be this summer, it's time to hook your plants up with some self watering...

Look! Tiny Succulent Gardens at Trader Joe's

We've blogged our credo of weekly flowers here at AT many times; it's an inexpensive way to bring life, luxury and a treat into your home every week. We usually buy our weekly flowers at Trader Joe's...

Benoit Deneufbourg's Woodenlegs

Although fashioning your own metal spun aluminum seat to hold three oak legs for a stool is likely out of the question, you could borrow an idea from Benoit Deneufbourg's Woodenlegs stool by installin...

Beat the Heat This Weekend?

With the temperatures hitting the triple digits (115 degrees!) over the weekend, most of our weekend plans went right out the window. We found ourselves trying to find activities to do that would kee...

LA Scavenger: Hollywood Regency 1950s Coffee Table for $300

Looking for something ornate to anchor your living room? Check out this detailed Hollywood Regency coffee table: it's got three carvings in the top under glass with matching legs attached to a pedesta...

LA Hot Posts: 06.22.08

Here's our top ten posts of the past week, a mix of good questions, such as how to cover a bare overhead bulbs and finding the perfect bookcase, with directions of how to make a space saving shoe rack...

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